Whiskey Girl
by teen-idle333
Summary: She's lost her family, but she can make it. Shy's always been tough and she isn't afraid to do what she needs to to survive. But life on the road's gotten lonely. Daryl Dixon lovestory, with an OC. Starts off in season 2 episode 5 "Chupacabra". Please R&R, feedback means a lot to me!
1. Chapter 1

I'd always been a tough girl. I was always getting myself hurt as a kid, from broken bones to road burn. I could always take it though. When I was a teenager, I always took the gun with the biggest kick, knowing I could handle it. When I was older still, I was knocking back whiskey with my papa like I'd been doing it for 30 years. So when shit hit the fan, I thought I'd be fine, that everyone was making it sound worse then it's gonna be. I really had no clue what I was getting into.

"_Kay, everyone's here." I announced as my aunt wheeled her stuff into my grandparent's house. It was 10 days after the first reports of the virus popped up. My whole family situated ourselves in my grandparent's brick house. Myself, my brother (Kobe), my mom, and her boyfriend (Rafeal) were all staying in the living room upstairs. My grandparents had their bedroom, of course. My aunt Sara, my uncle Greg and their three kids were in the living room in the basement. My other Aunt was in the spare bedroom downstairs. It was my idea for everyone to come here: the house was the best place for us all. It was out of the way, so there weren't many people around. There were tons of weapons: my papa's hunting supplies were all stored there, and so was all my hunting stuff. My uncle Gred and Rafeal brought their guns too. Between us all we must've had about 30 guns and a few compound bows with about 60 arrows. Rafeal collected swords, so he brought a bunch of those. It was perfect._

_**2 Months Later:**_

_ "Come on, Kobe. We gotta go." I say softly to my little brother as a pat his shoulder. He nods slowly and goes to my truck. Yesterday, the last of our family died. A week ago, it was just me, Kobe, and my papa. Papa went out to the yard to grab some wood for the fire after I argued with him that I'd do it. He wasn't young and I could defend myself the best. But he insisted._

_ I was stirring soup over the fire when I heard the deep scream. I grabbed my bow and raced out to the yard. My papa was on the ground near the woodpile, with a nasty walker gnawing on his shoulder. I nocked an arrow and let it fly. It thunked against the walker's rotten skull and it slumped to the ground._

_ I raced over and knelt beside my dying grandfather. "Shy." He whispered to me. "Take care of your brother. I just want you to know I've always been so proud of you. You've always been such a trooper, always so tough. If anyone can get through this, if anyone can thrive in this kind of world, it's you. I love you." His eyes lost focus and I could feel his breathing stop. I stood and nocked another arrow in my bow. He was gonna turn soon and I had to put him down. I had tears streaming down my face and I aimed between his eyes._

_ "I love you too." I whispered back as I impaled the arrow into his head._

_ After that, I decided it wasn't safe at the house anymore. Kobe and I loaded up the truck this morning, and now we're heading out. We start the drive up to my papa's land. He has a few acres of woods about 20 minutes from his house with two cabins and a lake. The cabins aren't his, but the one is never used, and the other one belongs to a family friend._

_ We arrive and I check the used cabin to see if our friend is there. The cabin's empty. I go back to the truck and strap my bow to my back, just in case. "Kobe." I say. "Start grabbing some boxes and bring them in the cabin."_

_ "Okay, Shy." He responds. I take a box and bring it inside. I go back outside, and Kobe goes in. We continue this system for a bit until I hear something._

_ "SHY!" I hear my brother scream at the top of his lungs. I drop my box and sprint out the door. Kobe is getting his intestines ripped out by a walker. I put an arrow through its eye and it drops. _Not again, not again,_ is all I keep thinking._

_ I stand over Kobe, already bawling my eyes out. "It came from the other cabin." he tells me. "Shy, please shot me before I turn. Please." He begs me._

_ I nod, with fresh tears falling down my face. I ready my arrow and point my bow at his skull._

"_I love you Shy." He says and laughs a bit. "At least I'll get to see mom and Rafeal again, and everyone else. Right?"_

_ "Yep. You'll get to see them again, bud. Tell 'em I said hi, okay?" I pause and he nods. "I love you." I shoot and his body jerks before falling still._

_ I wipe my tears from my eyes, but they won't stop. I repack the truck with all our stuff then grab a shovel. There's no way I'm not giving my brother a proper funeral. After I bury him, I'm leaving. I have a map, I have supplies and I'll be outta here. Out of my small hometown in Southern Indiana._

_ I've always wanted to go to Georgia. Maybe I'll head there._


	2. Chapter 2

_Damn it, Shy. _I tell myself._ You've got to stop thinking about that. _I know there's nothing I can do about it. You can't change the past. That doesn't stop the guilt I feel about failing my family.

It's been about three weeks since I left Indiana. I drove my silver pickup to Atlanta first. The CDC is there, so I thought that'd be a good place to check for any refuges. That was a bust. The whole city was overrun, but I fought through it to find the Center for Disease Control. Nothing. That's what was there. All I found was a giant crater full of ashes where the building was supposed to be.

I left Atlanta and I've been on the road heading south on I-85 and GA-74S since. I've only stopped to hunt, sleep, and siphon gas. I've been hunting since I was little so getting food hasn't been a problem. I've always been at home in the woods and survival is second nature to me.

This stretch of highway I'm on now has been so crowded with deserted vehicles it's been hard to navigate. I'm getting pretty damn tired of it. After check my food stores and seeing they're low, I decide it's time to stop to hunt.

I pull over to the side of the road, along the metal guardrail. A quick visual sweep of the area tells me there aren't any walkers around. For now, anyways. I hop out my truck and load up. I strap a hunting knife to my upper left thigh and a pistol to my right. I buckle a fanny-pack of field dressing supplies around my waist and position the pack to the side so it's out of the way. On my back I secure my sword and compound bow, crisscrossing them in an X. It seems like a lot, but I've learned you always have to be packing heat when you're on your own.

After locking the truck, I enter into the greenery of the woods. I walk quietly, but quickly through the brush, not wanting to scare the game. I creep around the land for a few hours, bagging a few squirrels and a possum. Even if you're used to it, hiking through the woods for hours ain't no picnic. I sat down on a mossy log and took a break. I wiped the sweat off my forehead and started picking through my dark brown curly hair. My thick hair catches everything, so I'm always pulling sticks and leaves out of it.

Suddenly, I hear a horse whiny in fear and a deep yell of surprise. Then, I hear crashing noises and a splash. I stand up and put my bow out in front of me. I'm curious about what it was, but I don't want to walk into a dangerous situation. I decide to wait a few minutes, and see if I hear anything else. If I don't, whatever fell is either okay on their own or dead. Either way, it'd be of no use to me to check it out. If I hear something else, then I'll go see what's going on.

After standing quietly for a bit, I hear more crashing. I sprint quietly through the bushes and ferns blocking my way then set into a clearing at the base of a water fall. There's a man lying at the base of a cliff on the silty ground. By his feet is a male walker, hunched over him. I yell at it to get its attention. "Hey ugly!" I scream. "Come get me, ya jackass!" It turns and stares at me, then comes rambling closer. I shoot it through the head and it falls to the earth. Behind me, I hear shuffling of feet and grunting. I whirl around and shot another walker right in the eye.

I grab both arrows and run over to the injured man. I kneel down and set down my bow. The man has an arrow through his torso and looks like he's the one who took both falls. His eyes start to flicker open and I lean over him. I plant a hand on both side of his shoulders and look into his eyes. "Hey, are you okay?" I ask, letting him know I'm there.

His eyes flash wide open, and his hand grips my arm. "Who the hell are you?!" he yells into my face.

"Let go!" I yell back, I'm _trying _to help you!" I tell him. After he releases my arm and calms down I tell him, "My name's Shy, by the way."

"I'm Daryl Dixon." He tells me. "I gotta get up that cliff, if you're wantin' to help me. My camp is 'bout a mile and a half from here." He points back at the cliff he obviously fell down.

"Kay, I can do that. Let me get this arrow outta ya first." I tell him. I think for a minute. "Do you want to do this the hard way or the easy way? I can let you keep the arrow, but it'll hurt more."

"I ain't wasting an arrow."

"Guess we're doing this the hard way then." I say to myself. I have Daryl roll onto his other side and I tear a long strip of fabric from my shirt. I thread it beneath him, so there's it'll be easier to tie around him when I take out the arrow. It'll help stop the bleeding.

"Okay, I'm pulling at the count of three. One… two…" I yank on the side of the arrow with the head, pulling the rest of the shaft and feathers through his body. "There."

"Shit!" he yells. "I though you said on three?"

"I didn't want you to tense your muscles. It would've made it hurt more."

"Well… thanks." Daryl says.

I shrug. "It was no biggie." I stand up and sling my bow on my back. I reach out my hand to help him up. He stares at it for a minute, then takes it and I pull him of the ground. I dust off my bloody hands on my not-so-clean jeans and look up at Daryl.

"Now all we've gotta do is get up the cliff."


	3. Chapter 3

"I've gotta find my crossbow before we leave." Daryl tells me.

"Go ahead. You don't have to ask me for permission, I'm not your boss. I'm just trying to see what'll be the best way to climb up the cliff."

He grunts and nods, then walks over to the pool at the base of the waterfall. While he fishes around for his crossbow, I figure out the game plan.

I've got a deer drag in my field dressing pack that's mostly rope, so I can use that. I'll probably climb up ahead of Daryl so I can tie the rope to a tree or something, then he can use it to hoist himself up.

I look over my shoulder to check up on Daryl. "You found your crossbow yet?"

He jumps up from leaning down into the water. "God, lady, pipe down. Don't wanna attract any walkers here do ya?" He leans back down and sifts through the water. He stops and walks over to me with his crossbow slung across his back.

"I'm going to climb up first, tie my deer drag to a tree and then you can use that to help you up. Sound like a plan?" I explain.

He nods. I secure my belongings and launch myself at the cliff. It takes me a bit to get to the top, and I almost fall, but I make it to the top. After securing the rope to a sturdy tree, I cast it down to Daryl. He grabs it and tugs to see if it'll hold. I guess he decides it's okay, because he starts the climb. He uses the trees growing out of the side of the cliff to help him up along with the rope. When he gets near the edge, I help pull him over.

"Damn, my side's killing me. Hurts like hell." Daryl informs me.

"So, which way are we going?" I ask. He points to the west and starts walking. I follow him, as I have no clue where we're going.

After waking for a while he speaks up. "Uh, just so you know, the group ain't gonna be too happy about me bringing an outside to our camp. So don't expect to be staying long. And be ready for them to be kinda hostel to you. We're a little weary of strangers. Also, we're getting close to the farm, not far now." He gestures to the field up ahead where, I'm assuming, the farm is.

"That's good. And don't worry. I wasn't planning on staying. As soon as I get you to your group, I'm heading out. I'll just cut through the woods and back to my truck." I assure him.

As we get closer to the field, Daryl starts to stumble. I hear him mumble under his breath, "Get yourself together. That hole in your side ain't nothin'." I move in closer and drape his arm over mine for support. He turns his head and gives me a confused look, then shakes the expression off. We walk like this, with me supporting him, out into the field.

**Third Person PoV:**

Andrea is sitting atop the RV when she sees two human forms out in the far end of the field. They're stumbling and kind of shuffling.

"Walkers!" she yells to everybody. "There are walkers in the field!" she sets up and aims her rifle at the forms in the distance.

Everyone gathers around the RV. Rick yells up at Andrea, "Don't shoot; we don't know what they are yet!"

"No, they're walkers!" she responds. "I'm taking the shot."

She looks down the sights and Rick yells for her not to. "Stop!" Everyone's shouting.

Andrea pulls the trigger, ejects the cartridge, and fires again. The two forms drop.

**Shy's PoV:**

We shuffle out into the field and I see a bunch of people gathered around an RV. I look at Daryl and smile, "We made it!" I tell him.

He gives me a small smile back and he's about to respond when a gunshot rips through the air. I see blood spray from the side of Daryl's head and he falls to the ground. Another gunshot and I feel a burst of pain explode in my right shoulder. I drop from the impact. After a few moments I sit up, still with a fiery burning in my shoulder. "Daryl!?" I lean over him and try to see if he's responding. He flickers his eyes a little, but that's about it.

I look over to where the shots came from and see a group of people running at me. There's a man in a sheriff's uniform, a bigger black man, an Asian guy, and a man who's wearing a blue cop shirt. The man in blue comes up behind me and yanks me back off Daryl by pulling both my arms. I scream from the pain in my shoulder being amplified. The other guys help Daryl up and carry him off toward the farm house. The man holding me drags me roughly, following the others. I get up on my feet and say I don't mean any harm, but he won't let go.

When we finally get to the house he pushes me to the ground near the porch. The other men bring Daryl inside.

The man in blue gets in my face and stars screaming at me. "Who the hell are you!? What are you doing here?" He slaps me across the face, harder than I've ever been hit in my life. I put my arms over my face to ward off any more blows. "Answer me!"


	4. Chapter 4

I stand up quick off the ground and back off from the man. Using my good arm, I grab my sword off my back and swing it in front of me. I'm tired of this shit.

The man in the cop shirt takes a pistol out of his holster and points it at my head.

The sheriff bursts out the front door. "What is going on here? What are you doing Shane?" he asks with an angry, in-charge tone.

The man (I'm guessing Shane) tells the sheriff, "Rick, she just pulled a sword on me. I was just asking her some questions." He lowers his gun.

Rick nods and turns to me. "Now you tell me the problem. Just put down the sword: none of us want any trouble."

Still a little weary, I slip my sword back into its sheath on my back. "_The problem here_ is that I just saved one of your guys out in the woods. Trying to be a good person, I brought him back to you. My thanks? I just got shot, then dragged around by copper over here, screamed at, and slapped in the face." I say in an angry huff. "Now, if you excuse me, I'm going back to my truck and leaving like I planned to in the first place." I turn to walk back through the field, clutching my injured arm.

"Wait!" Rick calls after me. He steps down off the porch and comes over to me. "Listen, I'm sorry about that." He says quietly to me. "Shane can be a little hot-headed and Andrea accidently shot you and Daryl. If you'll just stay here a while we'll make it up to you. We've got a guy who can fix your arm."

I hesitate for a minute. Do I really want help from someone whose group just shot me? "Okay." I agree anyways. I do need the medical care. "But I have to go get my truck."

He smiles and says good-naturedly, "We'll take care of it when you're recovered." He turns back to the porch and motions for me to follow. He lead my through some rooms with other people I don't know then takes me to a room upstairs. "Hershel used to be a vet, but he's kind of our resident doctor now. He'll fix you up, no worries. He's working on Daryl now."

I walk into a bedroom. Daryl's lying on the bed, all wrapped up in bandages around his torso and head. An older man finishes up the wrappings on Daryl's head then gets up and shakes Rick's hand. "Well, he should be fine, Rick. Nothing hit any vital spots, all he needs is a little rest and he's going to be good as new." the man informs Rick. Rick nods and leaves the room.

He turns to face me. "Are you the other one who got shot?" he asks me.

"Yes. Are you Hershel? Do you think you can fix it?" I ask in return.

"I am Hershel. Why don't you sit down right here and I'll see what I can do about it." He directs me over to a couch with an exam cart next to it. He sits on one side of the table and I sit on the couch. I set my arm up on the table. "I'm going to have to pull down the strap of your tank-top to get at your wound." He does and probes his fingers around my hurt flesh.

"It doesn't look too bad. The bullet didn't go deep and didn't fracture into pieces either, probably because of the long range. Daryl here only got skimmed." I nod and he tells me what he has to do as he does it. "I've got to get the slug out." Hershel says as he digs into the hole in my arm. I wince with the pain and make a fist with my hand. "Let me just cleanse the wound and stitch it closed." He pours peroxide on my shoulder and the burning intensifies. Then, he stitches me closed with a silver needle and black suture thread. "All done." He tells me with a smile.

"Thank God. That hurt like hell. Thanks, though." I say with a smile. "So how's Daryl?" I ask, curious. I mean, I did just go through a lot with the guy.

"The man is tough as nails and should be just fine. He was just concerned for you, and was asking about where you were. He was the one who told Rick to go check on you." Hershel tells me.


	5. Chapter 5

"Well, um that's nice of him." I reply awkwardly.

"Yes, he said you got shot too and we should make sure you're okay." Hershel explains.

Rick pops into the room. "So, she'll be fine Hershel?" he asks.

"Yep. She can still move it and it should heal up well with a few days of taking it easy."

"That's great!" replies Rick. He turns to me. "Come on downstairs with me, I'll introduce you to everyone."

I nod and follow him as he leads me back downstairs. He asks me my name. "It's Shy." I tell him.

When we reach the bottom of the stairs, I see a large group of people gathered in the living room. I've seen more people today then I have since the beginning of all this. Rick speaks up. "Everyone, this is Shy. She'll be with us for a few days, so make her feel welcome." He tips his hat to me and exits out the front door. Most of the men in the room follow him.

I walk over to the small group of women who are heading to the kitchen. A woman with short grey hair introduces herself as Carol. "Hi, Carol. I'm Shy…but you already know that." I respond. I was never that good with people before, and that hasn't changed a whole bunch. It takes me a while before I can really warm up to people.

The rest of the women introduce themselves as Lori, Maggie, Beth, and Patricia. They make small talk with me as I try to help them all with whatever I can. I'm not useful for much with my one arm still throbbing in pain. After a while, Carol pulls me to the side into a hallway.

"Sweetie, what happened to your face?" she asks, concerned.

"My face?" I say confused. I feel my face with my hands. "What's wrong with my face?"

Carol pulls me over to a gold-framed mirror handing on the wall. I peer into the shiny surface and examine my reflection. The whole left side of my face is slowly being covered by a huge purple bruise. It's not so bad now, but the left side of my face will be completely purple by tomorrow. "Holy crap…" I say, mostly to myself. I look back at Carol and see she's waiting for an explanation. I tell her about what happened with Shane before Rick came.

She nods with understanding. "Just so you know, Shane's not the most…stable person. He tries to protect everyone and really does want the best but just goes about it the wrong way. So just be careful."

I tell her I will and we go back to helping make dinner for everyone. I'm not usually one for being a Suzie-homemaker, but after living on the road, and only roasting meat over a fire, it feels nice. It's just so normal and I'm savoring it. Who knows when I'll be living like this again?

Once dinner is all ready, and we set the table, everyone digs in. I sit at the huge dining room table and get introduced to everyone I haven't met yet. There's Glen, the young Asian guy; T-Dog the black guy from earlier; Dale, an older man who seems really sweet; Andrea, a blond woman; and Jimmy, who's a family friend of Hershel's. They all seem pretty friendly, but I still don't really know them too well, so who knows.

Andrea turns to face me. "Umm, so… I'm really sorry I shot you. I thought you were a walker, along with Daryl. You've got to understand, I was just trying to protect the camp."

"It's fine." I say dismissively and she gives me a disbelieving look. I put on a smile and say; "No, really, it's fine. You didn't kill me, I'm not seriously injured, so don't worry about it. You might want to work on your shot though."

She laughs and says "Okay then. I will."

We all finish up dinner and people start heading out to their tents. I just stay sitting at the table, not saying anything. I'm not sure where I'm supposed to be going. I don't have a tent or anything; I've just been sleeping in the back of my truck this whole time.

Rick come up to me. "Shy, we don't have rooms in any of our tents and all the rooms in the house are being used. Since Daryl's sleeping in the medical room, I would just have you sleep in his tent, but I really don't want an arrow through my head. Daryl likes his space." He explains, laughing. "But you can sleep on the couch in the medical room, if you'd like. There's a pillow and a blanket up there for you."

"That'd be great, thanks." I pick myself up out of the chair and head upstairs.


	6. Chapter 6

I walk up the wooden staircase to the second floor and find the room I was in before. I'm dragging now; this whole day has really taken a toll on me. I creak open the door and see Daryl lying on the bed, facing the other way and covered by a white blanket. Trying to be quiet in case he's sleeping, I unload all my gear. Facing the couch, I slip my sword and bow off my back and gently set them on the floor next to the couch. Next goes the knife secured on my leg, then the pistol. They both join the pile of my weapons sitting on the wood flooring.

"What happened to you leaven'?" I jump and whirl around, not expecting the voice. Daryl's sitting up in bed, staring at me with a scowl on his face.

"You friend Rick, the sheriff guy, he told me to stay a while until my arm's healed up. Said it's to pay me back for what I did for you and to make it up to me after what Andrea did." I pause. "So I'll be outta here in no time, don't you worry." I retort sarcastically.

He just nods and turns back around. I roll my eyes and go lay on the couch. I place the pillow underneath my head and pull the wooly blank up over me. After a few minutes, I slip into sleep.

_"Shy, please shot me before I turn. Please." He begs me._

_I nod, with fresh tears falling down my face. I ready my arrow and point my bow at his skull._

_"I love you Shy." He says and laughs a bit. "At least I'll get to see mom and Rafeal again, and everyone else. Right?"_

"Hey!" A pause. "Hey! Wake up! Shy!"

I open my eyes, gasping for breath. I've been having the same nightmare for weeks, reliving my mistake over and over. If I would have just checked the other cabin…

A pair of bright blue eyes is leaning over me. Tears are steadily streaming down my face. "Are you okay?" Daryl says softly.

I try to wipe my tears. I don't want to look like a weakling. "Yeah. I'm sorry I woke you up." I say sitting up. I feel like an idiot now, on top of being terrorized by my own mind.

He settles down next to me on the couch. "I've heard talkin' 'bout it helps."

I stare back at his face, trying to see if he's serious or just playing with me. He holds my stare steadily so I take that as meaning he's serious. I tell him about my family, my brother, and everything that happened. I'm unloading it all on to him.

After I'm done, we just sit there quietly. After basically telling an almost-stranger everything that's been haunting me, I'm feeling kind of stupid. "Why do you care?" I ask cynically.

He locks eyes with me. "I just understand about the nightmares."

**A/N- Thanks a ton to everyone who's reviewed, followed and favorite. It all means a lot to me, especially the reviews. Thank you!**


	7. Chapter 7

I wake up, for real this time. Daryl's sitting on his bed, slipping on a sleeveless shirt, and putting a biker vest with angel wings on the back over that. Thinking about what happened last night, I clear my throat. Daryl looks at me. "I'm really sorry about last night. I don't usually act like that." I rush the words out. I've never been all that great at apologizes.

"It's fine." he replies, shrugging it off.

"Thank you for listening."

He nods and steps out of the room. I gather up all my weapons, put them back on, and head out too. When I reach the bottom off the stairs, Maggie stops me.

"Shy, I thought ya might want a tour of the place, as you're going to be here a while. Follow me." she directs me in a perky voice. I listen and step out the front door behind her.

She points to a village of tents, cars and an RV." That's where Rick and all his people have been camping out at. Once you get your truck, you'll probably be stayin' over there with them." She gestures to a fenced off area of land. "That's where we keep all our cattle." Next, Maggie points to an old weathered barn that looks like it's about to fall to pieces. "Dad stores all the old tractors and farm equipment in there that we don't use. The barns looked up because off all the dangerous equipment in there, so I wouldn't go near it if I were you." I nod in agreement. "And over there is the horse barn." She tells me, pointing out a slightly newer looking barn.

"You've got horses?" I say excitedly. She nods. "I used to ride when I was in high school, but I had to quit after that. Not enough money."

"You can take one of them for a spin if you'd like." She says with a smile.

"Really?"

"Yeah, it's not a problem at all. They need the exercise anyways."

"Thanks!" I call out to her as I make my way over to the barn. This place really is a paradise. They've all got warm beds, fresh food, electricity, water. It's almost like this farm's been untouched. It's amazing.

Right before I step into the dark doorway of the barn, I hear yelling from the inside. I hang back not wanting to get involved. A few moments later, the grey haired woman, Carol, steps out. I take her place and walk over the dusty straw into the barn.

"I told you to leave me alone!" Daryl yells, swinging a saddle to the ground. He turns around and lowers his aggression. "Oh. It's you."

"Yeah." I walk over closer to him and sit down on a bale of hay. I motion for him to sit down next to me. "So," I say when he plops down, "do you wanna talk about it?"

He scoffs. "Talk 'bout what?"

I motion with my hands all around me. "Whatever that was. Obviously you're upset about something." I wait for him to explain. "You know, a wise man once told me talking about it helps."

Daryl's lips turn up into a little smirk. He takes a deep breath and begins. "Nobody told you why I was out in the woods?" I shake my head no. He elaborated and tells me about Carol's lost little girl, Sophia. Apparently, almost everyone's given up hope. It sounds like he's made it a personal mission to find her.

I nod in understanding. "If you don't mind me being there, I'll help you look for her today. I've hunted since I was little, so I'm not too bad at tracking."

"It's fine with me."

We stand up and I brush the dust off my jeans. He really is a man of few words. "You want to head out now?" he nods and I follow him out the barn and toward the fence. Before we get there though, Rick stops us both.

"Where are you two going?" he asks us with a puzzled look in his eye.

"Out to look for Sophia. Sad that someone who doesn't know her at all is doing more than any of ya'll. " he answers, referencing me.

"You need to just take it easy. "Rick orders Daryl and me. "Look, both of you are still injured and it's not going to help anyone if you guys get hurt again."

"Fine." Daryl grumbles and kicks in the dirt. Rick turns to walk away and I stop him.

"Do you think you can get someone to drive me out so I can get my truck? I'm gonna need a place to sleep tonight, so I'm gonna need to get it today." I say to Rick.

He runs his fingers through his hair, like he's stressed. "Well, let me see here. I've got to find someone to drive you out there, and everyone's pretty busy. Just give me an hour or two, and I'll see what I can do."

He goes to walk away again but Daryl pipes up. "I can drive her."


	8. Chapter 8

"You ever been on a motorcycle before?" Daryl asks as we make our way over to his bike.

"Na." I reply, a little unsure of this.

"It's not hard; I'll be the one doin' all the work." He sits down on the black motorcycle and grabs on to the ape-hanger handle bars. "Just get on behind me."

I follow his directions and slip on behind him. I kind of leave some space between us because I don't want to make anything awkward.

"You're gonna have ta scoot up girly." He grabs my calves and pulls me forward. I blush at how I'm pressed completely against his body and how he called me girly. "Now hang on tight." Since there's nothing else to hang on to, I assume he means himself. I slide my arms around his torso and pull myself even closer to him. "Kay now all you've gotta do is lean when I lean and hang on."

He revs the engine and we take off like a rocket. I tighten my grip around him as we fly down the dirt road, kicking up dust the whole way. After a few minutes we get to the highway. "Which way?" Daryl questions me as we come to a stop.

"Right." He nods and turns to the right. Remembering what he said, I lean into the turn with him. This motorcycle thing really isn't too bad.

As we fly down the highway I relax more. I lean forward and rest my head on Daryl's shoulder. He turns his head back to look at me, with a confused look painted across his face. I just smile at him, and he turns, going back to keeping his eyes on the road. Not before I spy his lips turning up in a smile back, though.

I'm going to be kinda sad when I've got to leave. I've just been so lonely for so long and it feels great to be around people again. I was only on the road for a few weeks, but even when I was with my family I only saw them. We didn't go outside, except for in the yard. I'd basically been cut off from the whole world for three months.

"We getting close yet?" Daryl yells to be heard over the wind rushing by us.

I scan around and look at all the cars around us. "Yeah. I think so." I tell him. He slows down so it'll be easier for me to spot my truck. A minute or two later I see it. "Hey, I found it. It's that silver truck over on the left." I direct him, pointing. "By the green Jeep."

He nods and navigates us between the rows of abandoned cars. Finally, he pulls up to the side of my vehicle and cuts the engine. I swing my legs over one side of the bike and get off. After unlocking the door, I peek inside my truck and make sure everything's still there. When I turn back to Daryl, I see him looking around with a troubled expression.

"What's wrong?" I ask, interrupting him.

He glances back at me, and then goes back to looking out over the highway. "We left some supplies and a message to Sophia on a car when we lost her. Every day we go check ta see if she's there. Hasn't been yet, but she could be there now." He pauses and turns to face me. "I think it's a little ways up the highway. Do you care if we go check it out?"

"No, it's fine. Anything to help find that little girl." Daryl steps over to his bake and gets back on. I settle back in behind him, a lot more sure of myself. I slip my arms around his waist and he starts the engine. We're in a more crowded area of the highway now, so we have to go a lot slower to get between the cars.

I decide along the ride that I like this. I like being around Daryl and I think we get along well. We might be friends. Maybe if I'm here longer, more.

**A/N- I'm going to do this chapter and the next a little differently. Obviously, this chapter is in Shy's point of view. The next chapter is going to be in Daryl's point of view, but it will be the same scene. So you'll kind of get both their thoughts. (Though I'd warn you guys, I didn't want anyone to be totally confused by the next chapter.)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Daryl's PoV:**

"You ever been on a motorcycle before?" I ask Shy as I lead her over to my bike.

"Na." she answers, seeming kinda hesitant.

"It's not hard; I'll be the one doin' all the work." I reassure her and slide onto the seat of my black chopper. I was Merle's, but now that he's gone I've taken it over. "Just get on behind me."

She gets on, but stays about half a foot away from me. That just ain't gonna work if she wants to stay on.

"You're gonna have ta scoot up girly." I tell her, grabbing her calves and pulling her forward. I hear her kind of gasp in surprise. _Oh, good Lord. _I think to myself. _Why did I just do that? Honestly, I suck at this kinda shit. _Oh well, can't take it back. "Now hang on tight." She wraps her arms around my stomach and presses herself against my back. "Kay now all you've gotta do is lean when I lean and hang on."

I rev the engine and we take off down the road leading away from Hershel's farm. There's nothin' better than flyin' down a dirt road and leaving a dust cloud behind you the whole way. Shy grabs on harder to my shirt and hangs on tighter. Once we get to the end of the road and reach the highway, I realize I've got no clue where to go. "Which way?" I ask her as I brake on the corner.

"Right." She tells me and I squeeze the throttle again. I lean to the right and Shy follows suit.

After a minute of driving down the highway, I feel a weight on my left shoulder. A little confused, I turn my head. The girls got her chin resting on my shoulder, crazy woman. She just smiles at me and I turn back around before she can see the one that's creepin' on ta my face.

She's a cool girl, that one. When she found me in the woods and I woke up to her turquoise blue eyes, I thought I was hallucinating. Saved my ass and brought me back to the farm, even though she didn't even know me. I didn't have people like that around me even before shit hit the fan, so it's even more of a surprise to find them now.

If I'm being completely honest with myself, before this she would've been a girl I would have liked to get to know. I especially like her toting around that bow, with her curly brown hair whipping around her face on the back of my bike. Although, I didn't have luck with ladies before, and that sure as hell ain't changing now. A guy can dream I guess.

"We getting close yet?" I yell back to her, trying to be heard over the wind.

After a few moments of looking around she answers me. "Yeah. I think so." I slow down a little so she can spot her vehicle among the hordes of deserted cars. "Hey, I found it. It's that silver truck over on the left." Shy tells me, pointing. "By the green Jeep."

I maneuver us in-between the row of cars littering the highway. I pull up to the side of her silver ford pick-up. Shy hops off my bike and opens up the driver side door of the truck. She starts rummaging through her supplies and I scan the area for walkers, getting up off my bike. There aren't any, but I recognize some of the vehicles. I think we're close to where the group and I left supplies for Sophia. I scrunch up my face, thinking.

"What's wrong?" Shy asks, interrupting me.

I glance back at her, and then go back to looking out over the highway. "We left some supplies and a message to Sophia on a car when we lost her. Every day we go check ta see if she's there. Hasn't been yet, but she could be there now." I pause and turn to face her. "I think it's a little ways up the highway. Do you care if we go check it out?"

"No, it's fine: anything to help find that little girl." Shy answers. It amazes me how much she cares about finding some kid she don't even know.

I settle back onto my motorcycle and Shy slides on behind me. I guess she's more comfortable now, because she wraps her arms around my waist and pulls herself close. I start the engine and slowly begin to slip between the cars. This part of the highway's a lot slower than the rest, so I can't go zipping down the road.

I don't really mind though: the ride's been nice. Just a shame she'll be leavin' soon.


	10. Chapter 10

Shy's PoV:

After checking the car for Sophia and not finding anything we head back to my truck. I get in and follow Daryl on his bike down the highway.

"Feels good bein' back." I comment to myself. I've had this truck since I was 16 and it was my grandpa's before that. She's a little old, but dependable and I really didn't want to leave her behind.

Once we're back on the farm, I pull up near the village of tents. I park a little far away though: I don't want to make these people uncomfortable, what with me being a stranger and all.

When I hop out the door, I hear shouting over by the ring of trees in the center of the tents. I see Maggie throw something at Lori, then stomps off. Glen hesitates a minute, the follows her.

I turn to Daryl, who pulled up beside me. "Any idea what that was about?"

He shrugs. "I don't really get involved with none of that."

I nod. "Good plan."

A little later, while I'm helping Daryl clean his arrow, Andrea and Shane walk over to us.

"What are you guys up to?" Andrea says as she comes up beside us with Shane next to her. "Do you have any plans for today?"

I tell her nothing and Daryl says the same. "Okay, well Shane's going to teach everyone to shoot, so if you want to come you can." She looks at Daryl. "I know you already know how to shoot, but I though Shy might like to."

"That's real nice of you, but I already know how to shoot. I've been hunting since I was ten." I answer, smiling.

"Why don't you come prove it then?" Shane butts in.

"Are you saying you don't believe me?" I ask a little annoyed, crossing my arms. What is this guy's issue with me?

"I'm just saying that we don't know you. I don't know if you're a liar. I don't know if you're a thief, or if you're going to murder us all in our sleep and run off with our supplies. We don't know anything about you." Shane responds with a mean look in his eye.

"She's good. She ain't the kind to do that." Daryl interjects. I'm a little surprised at him standing up for me but I'll take it.

"You would say that. Out of all of us, you're the one with the least ties. You'd probably just run off with her if she raided camp." He says and Andrea shots him a disapproving look.

"What did you just say?!" Daryl says as he rushes toward Shane. Andrea grabs Shane and pushes him out of Daryl's way. I grab Daryl around the waist and pull him back. He stops trying to go for Shane then Andrea pipes up.

"Fighting is not going to solve anything. We've just got to learn to trust each other." She pauses. "Just to make things a little easier, Shy will you please come shot with us? It won't take long, I promise." When I don't say anything, she adds, "Please?"

With a long sigh, I agree. "Fine. I'll go, but just to show your ass up, Shane." Shane scoffs and Daryl, standing beside me, chuckles. Andrea and Shane start to walk away, motioning to follow. I do and Daryl decides to come too.

"Why are you comin'?" I ask him quietly. I don't want Shane and Andrea to overhear.

"Cause I wanna watch you show him up too." He whispers in my ear.


	11. Chapter 11

We found ourselves in a field near the edge of the woods, far from the house. There was a wooden post fence running through it. Balanced on the top rail was dozens of glass bottles and other targets set up.

About half of the people in the camp were lined up about 20 yards from the fence. All of them held guns in their hands, some pistols, shotguns, and rifles.

"Before we start here, we're gonna have Shy show off her shooting skills." Shane announces to the group with a sinister smile on his face.

He tosses me a Remington rifle and a pack of bullets. I load ten bullets into the clip and set the gun up my shoulder. As I look down the barrel I think to myself, _better not make a fool of yourself in front of all these people._ I really don't want to end up looking like an idiot.

I take aim at the first bottle and squeeze the trigger. The bottle explodes into thousands of green shards. I continue down the line, making the bottles burst like fireworks. When the clip was empty I let a little smirk play across my lips. I was ten for ten.

I turn around and shove the gun into Shane's hand. "Just holler for me if you ever need any lessons." I say sarcastically, just so he can hear. He gives me a hard glare while the group claps for my shooting. I smile and wave to them as I walk back over to Daryl.

"Not a bad shot." he comments.

I shrug. "I'm okay. I just didn't want him to win." He nods in understanding.

We stand around watching the others try to hit their targets. Most of them are missing quiet a lot.

"Well, I'm getting out of her. I ain't go time to stand around watching them fuck up their shots." Daryl tells me as he makes his way over to the forest line. I run a little to catch up with him.

"Where are you goin'?" I ask.

"Hunting. Someone's gotta get food for everyone."

"They don't get their own food?" I question. How else have they been eating?

He scoffs. "No. Most of them wouldn't be able to get their own food if a squirrel sat at their feet and killed itself for 'em."

"I can get my own. I'll come with you." I still have my bow strapped to my back, along with my other weapons.

He nods and we sneak into the woods together. I watch my footing, moving swiftly, but silently. After we can no longer see the clearing behind us, we decide to split paths.

"I'll meet you back here in a few hours." Daryl whispers. "I'll probably be back 'round five." He whips his crossbow out from behind him and holds it out in front. I grab my bow and start veering off to the right while Daryl goes left. I wave to him, and then disappear into the cover of the forest.

I spend the next few hours stalking animals in the woods. I mostly bagged some small game, two rabbits and about half a dozen squirrel tied to my belt. Deciding to stop for a break, I try to see how far I've gone. I figure I'm probably about 5 or 6 miles from the farm house. Looking up at the sky, I estimate it to be around 4. "Guess I should start heading back." I say out loud to myself.

I make my way through the greenery, still watching out for any game. After half an hour of walking, I hear the faint sounds of deer hooves gently hitting dirt. I freeze, not wanting to spook it, and slowly turn my head toward the sound. Sure enough, there's a deer grazing between two huge trees. It's a pretty nice buck, eight points.

_Don't mess this one up, Shy. A whole deer would be a hell of a lot of food for everyone. Much better than the squirrels they've been eating._ I stay frozen, as still as a statue, while the deer slowly munches grass heading toward the second tree. _When it goes behind the tree, I can nock my arrow and get my bow in place._

After what seems like an hour, the buck ducks its head behind the tree. I nock the arrow I've been holding in my hand and bring my bow up into position. I pull back until the tension breaks and hold it there until the deer pops back out from behind the tree.

I see its nose poke out, then the rest of its body slowly follows. When I can see its shoulders, I take a deep breath and get ready to take the shot. I release the arrow, and it flies toward its target.

_Thunk._ The deer kicks up its back legs, a sure sign it's been shot, and bounds away. I give it a few minutes to settle, the go to work tracking it. Following the blood spots, I make my way over to the dead deer. I cautiously approach it and look to see if it's still breathing. It's not.

I look over to see where the shot hit. To my surprise, there's two arrows stick out behind the shoulder of the front leg. "What the hell?" I say, confused.

I hear rustling in the brush to my right and whirl around. Daryl steps out, holding up his crossbow. "Ya shot my deer." He comments.

"Na, I think _you _shot _mine_." I say back.

"Either way, we bagged a deer. Nice sized buck too." He says, stepping over to the kill. "Come on, girly. Let's get to work gutting it, then drag it back ta camp."

There's that girly thing again. I feel the blush coming on and mentally slap myself. _The apocalypse is not really an ideal time for that kinda thing._ I get my knives out of my pack and lay them out. He grabs one and slices down the white belly. "Here comes the worst part." Daryl says, mostly to himself. He brings the knife down onto the pelvic bone, splitting it in half. We cut loose the bowels and dump them out. Then, we hold up the carcass to drain the blood out of the body cavity. You've gotta get all of the guts out to cool the body down. If it stays hot, the meat will spoil.

After we finish, I secure my deer drag on it. "Come on." I say, wiping my bloody hands on my jeans. "Let's get back to the farm."


	12. Chapter 12

After we got back to the farm, we strung the deer up on a tree and hack off all the meat. Then, after wrapping most of it up, we store it in Hershel's still-working fridge. The rest of the group and I roast the remaining meat over a fire.

We're all sitting around the campfire in a ring. Daryl's on my left and Carol's sitting on my right.

Carl says, from across the ring, "I've never ate a deer before. It's pretty good though. Thanks Daryl."

"Don't just thank me." Daryl answers back. "Shy shot it too."

Carol pipes in. "She shot it _too_? As in you both shot it?"

"Yep." I answer, swallowing a mouthful of venison. "There were two arrows sticking out of that a buck, both good kill shots."

We all continue making conversation as everyone munches on their dinners. As the embers slowly burn down, one by one everyone goes to their tents. By the time only glowing coals are left, Daryl and I are the only one's sitting by the fire.

I grab a stick from the ground and stick it in the coals, poking them idly. I always did this as a kid with campfire, so it's kinda a habit now. After a few minutes of us just sitting there not talking, I break the silence.

"Well, I'm turning in." I announce, standing up. "'Night." I start heading in the direction of my truck, when Daryl yells out for me to wait.

"Where ya goin'?" he asks.

"To my truck, I've gotta have somewhere to sleep. I've got some blankets and pillows I was using on the road, so I'm all set."

"If you want, ya can…um…ya can come sleep in my tent. It's supposed to sleep four, but it's only me, so there's plenty of room. I mean, a truck can't be all that comfortable, and I've got room, so…ya can if ya want." he explains, rambling.

"Um…" I say at first a little surprised by his offer.

"Ya don't have to. I was just offering." Daryl says gruffly, starting to walk away.

_Aw man,_ I think, _now I've hurt my only friend's feelings. _"No, I want to. I just have to get my stuff first."

He waits a moment before answering and stares at me. "Okay." He finally says. "I'll come help ya carry it."

Daryl grabs my blankets when we get to the silver Ford pickup, and I take my pillows and a bag of my essential stuff. It's got clothes, medical stuff, and other things like that.

He then leads me over to his dark, dusty red tent. He reaches for the zipper, opens up the tent and sets in. I follow, zipping the door closed behind me.

Daryl sets my things down on the side of the tent opposite of his stuff. I follow suit and unload my pillows, bag and all my weapons. I take off my boots too, and then sit down on my pile of blankets.

"Home sweet home." Daryl says sarcastically as he does the same thing.

"Better than a truck cab." I point out.

He laughs a little and nods. "Guess so."

As I tuck myself under my covers I look over at Daryl. "Hey thanks for letting me stay here, and for sticking up for me with Shane today too. It was real nice of you."

"It's no big deal."

"Okay."

I snuggle myself into my pillows and let my mind start to rest. As I'm feeling myself start to fall asleep, I whisper, "Goodnight, Daryl."

I hear him say softly back, "Goodnight, Shy."

A smile plays on my face as I slip into sleep.

**A/N~ Thanks so much to everyone who's reviewed, followed, and made this story a favorite. Means a lot! **


	13. Chapter 13

I wake up with a ray of sunshine streaming across my face. Daryl's unzipping the doorway. I sit up and he hears me move. "I'm leaving, so you can change or something, if ya want. I'll see ya later." And with that, he steps out the tent.

I decide that my clothes are a dirty, disgusting mess. I'm not really a neat-freak, but these things are nasty. I zip up the tent and start shedding clothes. I pull my bloody grey tank-top over my head and throw it on the ground. Next come my grimy jeans and finally my underwear. I decide my bra is clean enough and leave it on.

I take a change of clothes out of my bag. I slip another tank-top on, this one a faded red. I pull a pair of holey jeans on and grab some socks too. Next, I secure my sword and bow to my back, and pistol and knife to my leg. I slip into my beat-up brown cowboy boots and set out the tent.

As I step out, I see Carol staring at me. She waves at me to go to her so I jog on over.

"Whatcha need?" I say. "Need any help with anything?"

"Yes actually. Mind helping me with laundry?" Carol asks.

"Sure. Just let me go grab some dirty clothes I've got." I run back over to Daryl's tent and grab my clothes. I meet Carol back by the big tree in the center of the tents. She's got two buckets, one with soapy water and one with clear water.

She gestures to a pile of clothes in a hamper next to her. "Here are all the clothes we've got to wash." While she's talking, I add mine to the pile. "I'll wash them, and then you can rinse and hang them up." She points to a line of thin rope stretching between two trees.

I nod. "Sounds like a plan."

She sits down on the ground and grabs a shirt and starts scrubbing. She hands me it when she's done and I rinse it. Then I go over to the line and hang it up.

When I get back over to the buckets, Carol clears her throat. "So, you and Daryl, huh?" she says in a teasing voice, her mouth forming a grin.

"What !? No, I mean…um, well I…what?" I say, all flustered. "I mean, why do you think that?"

"You seem to have really taken to him. You've been together since you came here and Daryl really doesn't usually put up with anybody for that long. I saw you come out of his tent this morning, so you must have been sleeping in there with him." Carol points out.

"Well, that stuff is true I guess. I have been hanging around with him and we were sleeping together last night." As I say the last part, Carol grins even bigger and her eyes widen.

"No! No, not like that! We were sleeping in the same place, but we weren't doing _that_. Oh my God…" At this point my entire face is just bright red.

She chuckles and says, "Okay." Then we let that drop and just continue our work.

As I'm rinsing clothes, I start to think about what she said.

Daryl _is _pretty attractive, at least to me. Never have been one for the pretty-boy type and Daryl is defiantly not a pretty-boy. More of the rugged, country kind of man to be honest. He's got gorgeous blue eyes though. He's pretty muscular: not in an obvious way. Just enough so you know they're there.

Believe it or not, I actually like his personality too. Some of the people here seem to think he's hard to get along with and some stupid hick. I just think he is who he is. He's interesting, can take care of himself, and I like that. He's real nice to me and is the only friend I've had in a while. He's smart too, and I don't think the group gives him enough credit for it.

As we've been washing clothes, most of the group has come over to where we are. Some people are gathered around the fire, cooking lunch. Some other are doing chores, like us.

Everyone is talking when Glen speaks up. "Guys so…the barn is full of walkers."


	14. Chapter 14

Everyone stops what they're doing. "Are you serious?" Shane asks.

Glenn nods. "Maggie told me. Hershel thinks the walkers are just people who are sick."

"There is _no_ way I am living next to walkers. I will not let anyone of us get bit just because of Hershel's ignorance." Shane stomps over to the RV, mumbling under his breath. "If Rick isn't gonna take care of this, _I_ will."

I look at Carol, and she seems really worried about this. I look over to my right and see Daryl coming back from wherever he was. He makes his way over and stands next to me.

"What's goin' on? Everyone seems really on edge." he asks.

"Glenn just told everyone there are walkers in the barn. Shane was pretty aggravated over that, and he just went over to the RV." I explain.

"Where's Rick? He should know about this. He'd know what to do." Daryl says, concerned.

"I haven't seen Rick all day." I say as Shane comes back over to the group.

"Okay people." He says holding up a bag of rifles and shotguns. "We are not going to live next to this constant threat. This farm is the best place we've been since all this shit started to happen. We've got to protect this." He pauses and pulls out a rifle from the bag. "If you want to make sure we're all safe, come up here and grab a gun. We're taking care of the walkers ourselves."

One by one, people start stepping up to take guns. First Andrea (of course), then Glen, T-Dog, Daryl, and I. Shane steps in front to lead us over to the old barn, with a pistol in his hand. I don't really want to follow along with anything Shane does, but I agree that it's not right to be living right next to a barn full of walkers. That's just not safe, and you can't risk that sort of thing.

As we're making our way to the barn, Rick and Hershel step out of the nearby woods and in front of the barn. They're leading walkers on what look like dog catching poles. What the heck are they thinking?

"Do they have walkers?" Andrea questions.

Shane storms over to Hershel and takes the pole from his hands. He releases the walker then backs away. The walker turns toward Shane and starts moaning at him. Then it walks toward him.

"They are not sick! They're dead!" Shane yells at Hershel. He puts up his pistol and points it at the walker. He pulls the trigger and shots it through the chest. It just keeps coming toward him. "Do you think anyone could survive this?" Shane yells, still putting shots in the walker's chest. "Shots to the heart and it just keeps coming! It just keeps coming!" Shane stops shooting and lets it come closer to him. He waits until it's only a few feet away and puts a bullet in its brain.

He rushes over to the barn doors and pries off the latch and chains keeping it closed with a crowbar. He comes back over to stand with the rest of us. We spread out in a line, preparing ourselves for the monsters in the barn.

The first one steps out, and Shane takes the shot. The rest pour out and we all shoot. It's a slaughter, with bullets flying everywhere. When no more come out we all relax a little.

But then we see movement from inside the barn doors. Everyone prepares to shoot and puts their guns up. Then a little girl who's turned stumbles out of the darkness. I hear a simultaneous gasp go through the group. Everyone lowers their guns, and I hear a pain-filled scream. This walker must be Sophia.

Carol starts to run towards her daughter, but Daryl catches her and holds her back. She bursts into tears, as do many others in the group. I feel tears forming in my own eyes.

No one is going to put her down. We're all just watching. Finally, Rick steps up to the girl. He takes a deep breath and fires his gun. She drops to the ground.

Carol runs off to the RV and Daryl follows her. I fell so badly about Sophia and I really feel bad for Carol. I want to help but I'm not sure exactly how.

I decide that the best thing for me to do is to help bury the bodies. I work on digging holes for all their loved ones. The rest, they say they'll burn.

After the sun had set and the holes were dug, I went back to the tent. I unzip the opening quietly, not sure if Daryl is asleep or not.

I step inside and close the opening behind me. Daryl is just sitting up, staring at the wall of the tent. I sit down and take off my boots. I feel really bad for Daryl. I know how important it was for him to find her, alive, and now…now he just seems crushed.

I sit there awkwardly for a few minutes, unsure of what to say.

"Daryl. I'm sorry about Sophia." I say first.

He just nods and keeps staring at the wall.

"I know how much it meant for you to get her back, alive. And if you need anything, I'm here for you." I let him know.

He just grunts in response. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay. But, a wise man once told me it helps to talk about it." I say, reminding him of what he told me the first night I was here.

I see a tiny half-smile form on his face. "I still don't really want to talk about it."

"Well hugs can help too." I scoot closer to him and wrap my arms around him. I feel him jump at my touch, then he freezes. Well, this isn't going as well as I'd hoped. "I'm sorry you had to go through this."

He nods. I let go and lie down on my blankets and pull one around me. I try to fall asleep, but it's hard. I'm still thinking about that girl. She couldn't have been too old, maybe eight or nine. Her whole life was cut so short.

I sigh and try to clear my mind. Suddenly, a pair of muscular arms closes around my waist. This time, it's me that jumps. Daryl clears his throat. "Is this okay?" He asks me for permission softly, his breath blowing across my ear.

"Yeah." I think we both need some comfort after today. Especially Daryl.

"Okay." He pulls a blanket over the both of us, on top of the one I've already got on.

He pulls me closer. My back is to him, and he's resting his chin on my shoulder.

I've never slept with a man, even in the most innocent sense. I didn't have a lot of boyfriends before, just friends that were boys. So I don't have a lot of experience with this sorta thing.

You would think that would make this awkward, but it's not. I feel really comfortable wrapped in Daryl's arms actually.

I hear Daryl start to softly snore next to me, and I slip into sleep soon after.


	15. Chapter 15

**Daryl's PoV:**

I awake and open up my eyes to the glow of daylight. _Ugh._ All the events of last night come rushing back. Sophia, God dammit. The whole thing just fuckin' sucks.

You know what I'm most mad about? That I was the only one who cared enough to go out and look for her. Everyone else pretty much gave up after day one and sat on their asses the whole rest of the time. I am so angry with all of them.

The only person I'm not mad at is Shy. How could I be? She didn't even know Sophia and she wanted to go with me to find her. That's more than most of _them_ did.

Speaking of Shy, I dorked out last night and fell asleep holding her. If Merle was here, he'd slap me upside the head and say "Damn kid, you're so whipped and you're not even getting any!". Whatever. He's not here, he's not gonna be here, and I can do whatever the hell I want. Besides, it's kind of nice.

Anyways, sometime during the night Shy must've turned around, cause now she's the one holding onto me. Her head's resting on my chest. At first, I tried not to move, so I wouldn't wake her up. But it's probably around noon now, so I start to shake her awake.

**Shy's PoV:**

I softly wake up to gentle shaking. I flutter open my eyes and am surprised to see Daryl's face. My head's resting on his chest: I guess I turned around during the night. He's shaking my shoulders to wake me up.

"I'm up, I'm up." I inform him groggily. I pull myself off of him and back towards my corner of stuff. We both load up our stuff, then step outside.

"You wanna grab something to eat?" Daryl asks and I nod yes. "I'm gonna make some arrows after we eat. If you wanna come, you can."

"Okay. I don't have anything better to do." I respond.

We grab some breakfast (really lunch I guess), and then we set up shop making arrows, out by this pile of stones and cement blocks. I use my knife to carve the wood straight, and then give 'em to Daryl so he can make it into an arrow shape. Then he puts the feathers on and we've got an arrow.

As I'm shaving down the wood, I start thing about the deal I had with Rick. My shoulder's been fine for a while, the bruise on my face is gone, and I'm all set to be able to travel. The thing is, I don't really want to go. Honestly, this farm is as close to perfect as it's gonna get.

I don't think Rick would kick me out or anything, but I don't want to be wearing out my welcome either. Maybe I can talk to him about it.

"Hey Daryl. Do you think you could talk to Rick for me?"

"Bout what?"

"Well," I begin, "I was wondering if he'd let me stay with you guys. I can hunt, so I can get my own food and I could even get help you get some for the group. I can fight, and can handle walkers for myself. And I've got my own vehicle. I wouldn't be any trouble." I say, rambling. "So do you think you could ask him for me?"

"Yeah." Daryl answers. "And don't worry 'bout it. Rick will let ya stay. He's got no reason not to."

"Thanks." We go back to working on the arrows for a while, when Lori comes up to us.

"Daryl, Ricks gone. He and Glen went into town to bring Hershel back. Can you go find him for me?" Lori asks.

"No." Daryl answers, without looking up from the arrow he's working on.

"What? Look, why are you being so selfish about this?"

"Me? Selfish?" Daryl says, standing up. "Listen up, Olive Oil. I just spent days looking for Sophia, and got an arrow to the side and a bullet to the head in the process. Don't talk to me about being selfish." He sits back down. "I'm done searching for people."

Lori stands there staring at him for a minute. She starts to turn around, but I stop her. "I'll go with you." I figure helping Rick's wife will make him like me more, and he'll let me stay. "I'll help you find Rick."

Lori's face breaks into a smile. "Thank you so much. I'll meet you out by the cars in a few minutes." She gives me a hug in thanks, and then walks away.

"Shy." Daryl says in a concerned tone. "Don't go."

"Why not? If I help her, Rick will want me to stay. Besides, I'm trying to be helpful."

"It's dangerous. You don't need to go, Lori can handle it."

"No, I'm going. She needs my help."

I start to walk away, but Daryl grabs my arm. "Shy, don't go. Lori, she gets her stupid self lost, that's one thing. I don't want to go searching for your dumb ass too. So just _stay here._"

"Let go." I jerk my arm away from his grip. "I can handle myself. Look, I'm going and you can't stop me. So you're just gonna have to deal with it."

I walk off towards the cars, leaving Daryl behind.


	16. Chapter 16

"Ready to go?" Lori asks, smiling. She climbs into the driver's seat of Maggie's car. "Maggie told me that Rick, Glenn, and Hershel are probably at the bar in town."

"We'll check there first then. Let's hit the road." I say, sliding in the passenger seat. Lori steps onto the gas, and we drive out the Green's long driveway.

After a few minutes of driving, Lori speaks up. "I just realized I've got absolutely no clue where that bar is. I think there's a map in the glove compartment. Could you grab it for me?"

I nod and click open the compartment, and fish around for the map. I finally find it in the stacks of papers and hand it over to Lori.

She flattens it across the steering wheel, taking her eyes off the road. I look up and see a walker shuffling across the asphalt. "Lori!" I scream. "Look out!"

She jerks her head up and swerves away from the walker, just clipping it on the left side. Instead of braking, she keeps going and loses control. We hit something and launch into the air. The cars tarts to flip and I tense my muscles, bracing for impact.

We hit the ground hard, skidding across the pavement on the side of the car. When we come to a stop I unbuckle myself and check on Lori. She's lying in her seat with her eyes closed, but I can see she's breathing from the rise and fall of her chest. I reach over and shake her gently. "Lori, are you okay?" With no response, I decide I should get out first, and then I can find a way to help her.

I try to roll up the window above me with the button, but that does nothing. "Great, now I've got to break the damn thing." I take my sword and slam the hilt into the window. It does nothing.

"Work, dammit!" I grit my teeth and put more power behind it. The glass shatters down on to me. I grab on to the sides of the now clear window and pull myself out. As my torso passes through, a shard of glass scrapes a cut all the way down my back. I grimace, but pull myself up the rest of the way. I stand up on the car and survey the area. Just as I thought, the loud crash attracted a few of the undead.

I shrug off my bow and fire arrow through the head of each one. In the open and with good aim, it's easy pickings. After clearing the area I crawl back into the car and focus on getting Lori out. I unbuckle her, and then maneuver her into the passenger seat. After climbing back on top of the car, I grab a hold of her wrists and try to hank her up. I grunt and soon my arm muscles are burning, but I finally get her out.

I hop down off the roof and sort of roll Lori down after me. I check again to see if she's responding. All I get is closed eyes and shallow breathing.

Not knowing what else to do, I adjust my sword and bow so they hang in front of me. Then, I drape Loris arms around my shoulders, so her hands hang down in front of me. I can't carry her all the way back to the farm, but I might be able to drag her like this until we get home.

I set out along the road, slowly because of Lori's extra weight. _Hopefully we aren't too far away._ I sigh, and continue stumbling down the road.

* * *

**A/N~ I am so sorry for not updating for such a long time! School has been killing me lately, but I'll try to post more regularly. Thanks for sticking with me!**


	17. Chapter 17

I feel like one of them, undead. My legs are so tired that walking feels like trying to run through molasses. My shoulders burn from holding up Lori. My skin is sun-burnt and there's a pounding in my head.

The sun went down a little while ago, but there's still a little light for me to see by. As I walk along, dragging my feet, I kick up the dust of the road. My legs are coated in the stuff.

When I finally spot the drive-way up to the farm in sight, I sigh. "Almost there." I encourage myself.

I feel Lori move slightly. She's been doing that for a while now, making little movements. I guess that must mean she'll wake up soon, but who knows. I ain't no doctor.

Once I'm about half way up the drive way, I can see the tents and people lit up by the dancing light of a fire. "Hey!" I croak out. My voice sounds gritty, and it comes out very quiet. I'm so thirsty. I try to swallow and coat my throat. It doesn't do much, but enough so I can yell. "Hey! Help me!"

Everyone stand up and runs over. Dale and Glen pull Lori off or me. Carol exclaims, "Oh my God, Shy! What happened?"

I open my mouth to answer her, but then black spots rush across my vision. I suddenly feel dizzy and light-headed. I stumble forward and hit the ground, hard. Everything on me hurts. I feel hands gripping my shoulders and look up to see Carol and T-Dog pulling me out of the dirt.

Carol takes charge and starts giving orders. "We've got to get her some water. Glen and Dale, take Lori into the house. I don't think she's in any immediate danger, but Shy might be." She pauses and looks at me. "And someone go get Daryl."

**Daryl's PoV:**

I'm still sittin' out here in the dark, mostly 'cause I'm just not up for dealing with people right now. Carol tried to come and talk to me earlier, but I didn't want to hear it. All she did was rant on me about how I handled Shy wrong today anyways. I just ignored her and went about making my arrows.

As I'm leaning against the pile of rubble, I hear footsteps. I jump up and start yelling at the unknown figure, thinkin' its Carol again. "Look, I told ya to leave me alone!"

To my surprise, T-Dog steps forward. He has a troubled look plastered on his face. "Hey man, Shy's back. But, um, she's not doing so well. They sent me out here to come get you."

"What's wrong with her? What happened?"

"Shy said Lori hit a walker with the car when they were driving and they swerved off the road. The car flipped a couple of times, and Lori got knocked out. Shy got out and carried Lori all the way back here." He pauses. "I think the main problem now is exhaustion and dehydration, though."

I get up off my ass and follow T-Dog over to the fire pit and tents.

**Shy's PoV:**

After telling everyone what happened, they gave me a glass of water to drink. I gulped it down and refilled it, then repeated the process a few more times. Carol took over the caretaker role and made sure to get me something to eat. I sat down on one of the log stools and she brought me over some dinner.

As I was digging in to a plate of mashed potatoes and a slab of beef (that's the kind of good food you get on a farm), a deep voice yelled out to me. "Shy, are you alright?" Daryl came up and sat beside me.

"Fine. At least now I am." I'm still a little annoyed by him trying to tell me what to do earlier, but I decide I can still be nice.

"Good." Her responds. "You know, this never would've happened if you'd of just listened to me. If you weren't so damn stubborn, you would be completely fine right now."

Now he's done it. I swallow the last piece of my beef and set the plate down on the ground beside me. "I think I'm done." I turn to Carol and give her a smile. "Thanks for taking care of me. I appreciate it."

I stand up and stomp off. Since there's no way I'm going back to Daryl's tent, I wander off to a row of huge oak trees. Still tired from earlier, I slide down the trunk of one of the oaks and sit on the dirt. I lean back and rest my head on the trunk. _You know what? Maybe I'll just sleep here tonight._ As I start to close my eyes I hear the crunch of grass under a pair of boots.

"Not that good of a hunter if I can hear you, Daryl." I yell out.

"Ain't trying to sneak up on you anyways." He answers and comes over to stand in front of me.

"Go away, I don't want to talk." He does the opposite and settles down beside me.

"I will then: listen, I'm sorry." He mumbles. "But I don't want you to be hurt, and if you'd have listened to me, you wouldn't be. Do you see where I'm comin' from?"

"I appreciate that you care about me, but you've got to understand something. I don't like people telling me what to do. If I feel like something needs to be done, or is the right thing to do, I'm gonna do it. I don't care if I get hurt, cause it's my own damn fault. I don't care if you tell me not to do it, cause I'm gonna do it anyways. I like my freedom, and part of that is getting to make my own stupid decisions." I explain. "If we're gonna get along, you've got to understand that."

We sit there for a few minutes in silence. I'm thinking this is gonna be another one of my failed friendships. I've always been able to make friends, but I could never keep them. I was always too stubborn to budge when we disagreed.

"Okay." Daryl says, breaching the silence. "I'm okay with that."

"You are?"

"Yeah. I kinda pegged you as that kind of girl anyways. But you know, that's always been the kinda girl I liked." I can hear the smile in his voice.

"Oh really? I ain't too much to handle? Cause I've been told I am before." I say, teasing him. I slide a little closer, and now the sides of our legs are touching.

"Nah, I think I can handle ya." He drapes his arm across my shoulder and pulls me into him. "Are we okay now?" he asks quietly.

"Yep." I say somewhat distracted. Daryl, he's a pretty attractive guy, and has a nice personality. A little rough sure, but still nice. I want to do something, but don't want to make our friendship weird if it doesn't work out.

_Ah, what the hell. I'm going for it. _"Actually, I think we're more than okay." I lean in toward his rough lips.

"What?" he manages to say before, I press my lips on to his.


End file.
